


Such Intricacies

by alphagottadonk



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 3b canon divergent, Angst, Festival, Hurt/Comfort, I'd rather say fuck canon and have no one die thank you, M/M, Post-Possession, sterek, tumblr prompt challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 19:16:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1237888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphagottadonk/pseuds/alphagottadonk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The words had a habit of running through his mind when he let his guard down, like the free-flowing state just before giving into the throes of unconsciousness.</p><p>'What makes you so sure what you get back will be what you want?'</p><p> </p><p>(Prompt: Derek taking care of Stiles after the nogitsune is out of him again?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Such Intricacies

The words had a habit of running through his mind when he let his guard down, like the free-flowing state just before giving into the throes of unconsciousness.

_What makes you so sure what you get back will be what you want?_

He found himself worrying about Stiles constantly because of it. It was an all-encompassing, consuming fear like he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for those words it had spoken to show.

_You’ll get a shell of the person he used to be. I will destroy him._

It liked to play in his head on repeat, reminding him just how much it sounded like Stiles’ voice but it wasn’t. It wasn’t Stiles that had twisted his lips up in a sharp smile as it spoke those words, a last promise before they expelled it.

They were all just waiting, watching Stiles expecting anything. So far, he was just sick from having something so strong piggy-backing around on his shoulders for so long. It had been right in saying that playing host to something so powerful would have negative effects.

 

Scott pulled them all aside after the incident started to blow over, a pinched look on his face.

“We need to do something—do whatever we can for him, okay?”

He said, looking around at everyone and watching how they all nodded in unison. “He… He’s going to need us to watch out for him as much as possible. We know he’s going to blame himself for everything and I just-“

He trailed off with a staggered sigh, running a hand up his neck in clear agitation at the way his voice wavered near the end of that sentence. Derek got it. Scott was downright terrified of how Stiles was going to cope knowing how the nogitsune used his body to kill so many people and at this point, there was no telling what kind of path that guilt would take Stiles.

So then and there, they all swore to do everything in their power to keep Stiles at least occupied so he didn’t have time to dwell on what he inadvertently did while under the control of the nogitsune.

Derek stopped by the Stilinski residence a week after it all happened, the Sheriff opening the door and looking Derek over for a few long moments before stepping aside to let him in with a quick, “He’s upstairs sleeping. Try not to wake him.”

Derek sat in the chair beside Stiles’ bed, which was well worn and smelled like his father, just watching over him while he slept.

The first several times Derek sat in with Stiles, he did little more than sleep, or spend his time in the bathroom throwing up. It was worrisome the way the weight was just slouching off of him more so with each day so Derek took to bringing food with him and making sure Stiles at least attempted to eat them.

It was over a month before Stiles actually started to regain some normalcy, dressed in his usual clothes when Derek came over with a tired smile on his face as he suggested, “Take me somewhere.”

They ended up two towns over at some low key festival that passed out handmade pins that read ‘Deergrove’s 35th Annual Spring festival’ in bold orange letters. Stiles grinned as they bought tickets, the dark bags under his eyes looking less noticeable for a moment as he nudged Derek’s side and pointed at a stand selling funnel cakes.

He didn’t dare comment on how much Stiles ate while they were there, starting with the funnel cake that left his laughter smelling sticky-sweet, followed by the pizza, and then ice cream to top it off. He didn’t look like he was at risk of vomiting it all back up, so that was just a small mercy as far as Derek was concerned.

“Bet you can’t knock those bottles over.”

Stiles challenged as they passed one of the many obviously rigged booths along the avenue. Derek quirked a brow as he asked, “Am I winning you stuffed animals now? Is that what’s really going on here?”

Stiles just winked as he nudged Derek over to the booth and watched as the vendor handed Derek the ball, he aiming for the stack of bottles when Stiles leaned against him with an almost unnoticed sigh. He wriggled his way under Derek’s arm as he tossed the ball and easily knocked the bottles down, pointing wordlessly at a stuffed tiger that the vendor handed over with a perplexed frown.

“Show off,” Stiles teased as he snatched the toy and stuffed it under his arm, pushing Derek to continue walking down the avenue. Derek rolled his eyes in response, not daring to remove his arm from around Stiles when he noticed how much he was leaning his weight on Derek.

The festival concluded with a parade that wound through the town’s main road, filled with loud music from the high school’s band as they marched down the road followed by a slew of floats. They were all bright and colorful, lit up with lights that danced over Stiles’ soft expression in a way that filled Derek with a sense of relief he hadn’t known in months. For that little span of time, it felt like they both managed to forget what kind of turmoil their lives had been saddled with. Stiles was smiling in a way that didn’t look forced and painful as children threw candy at the onlookers while they sang a song about spring flowers.

Stiles expended what vestiges of energy he had on their outing, completely drained as they made it back toward the vehicle. He was stumbling in uncoordinated steps and sagging against Derek as they made their way back through the makeshift parking lot, laughter breathy and small as he slurred out a sarcastic comment about wishing he’d taken pictures to document the trip.

Derek helped him into the passenger seat, even helping him with the seatbelt which got him an unamused pout. Stiles’ hand slipped down to grab Derek’s arm when he went to pull back though, gaze locking onto Derek’s as murmured a quiet, “Thank you.”

\- - -

“What you did,”

The Sheriff said, clearing his throat as he pushed the door shut behind them. He was watching Derek like he was uncertain of what exactly to say, pale eyes narrowed in a way that reminded him so much of Stiles.

“It meant a lot to him. I just wanted to say thank you.”

He sighed with a jerky, momentary rub to his creased forehead, before giving Derek a tight-lipped smile and nudging him toward the staircase.

\- - -

He was subjected to Scott’s confusing, ‘I’m glad for this but at the same time upset’ eyes at least three times that day when they were all told by Stiles that he was going to stay the night at Derek’s place. It was going to be the first time he would be staying overnight away from his own home for the first time in months and they all assumed he would end up doing that at Scott’s home, so Scott was laying on the confused/hurt look as they shopped.

“Stop doing that,”

He groused as he compared two brands of pop tarts before putting the more expensive brand in the cart. Scott huffed unhappily before grabbing the pop tarts and replacing them with the s’mores kind instead.

“I just don’t get why he wants to stay over at your place. It’s weird. And don’t you think him being at the loft might be a bad idea? After-“

Derek cut him off with a low warning sound, not wanting to get into that conversation. As far as he was concerned, if Stiles wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it, neither was he. He continued shopping for things Scott approved of Stiles eating before they headed for the checkout, buying it all and driving back to the loft to put it all away.

“Look,” He finally grumbled, turning to look at Scott seriously. “If anything happens, you’ll be the first person I call, okay? But freaking out about this isn’t going to help.”

Scott looked taken aback for a moment before reeling it in and nodding, helping Derek put up the groceries before they made their way to the couch in wait for Stiles.

Scott practically mommed him when he arrived, grabbing his bag and setting it down before looking Stiles over and doing a mental check of everything before asking, “Where’s your pillow? You never stay anywhere without your pillow.”

Derek was very tempted to ask Scott why he was fretting over a pillow when he had plenty upstairs, but the significant look Stiles gave Scott kept him from intervening.

“Scott, I’m fine, okay? I’ve got my pillow in the Jeep and my meds and everything. Nothing’s going to happen.”

Scott only left when he absolutely had to, pulling Stiles into a tight hug before leaving them alone. Stiles immediately made his way over to the couch with Derek, plopping down right beside him and slumping against him.

“I just needed to get away, you know? Go somewhere that doesn’t feel like I’m being smothered by worried looks and overbearing focus on me.”

He admitted, twisting his head up to look at Derek for some sort of confirmation that he’d come to the right place for that. Derek couldn’t deny that he hadn’t done any of that, but he at least tried to hide it better than the others did.

“It’s kind of boring here. Don’t have a tv or anything.”

He warned like Stiles didn’t already know that, getting a nod in response before Stiles nuzzled against him more firmly and yawned.

“That’s fine. I could actually go to bed right now and be okay with it.”

Derek cleaned the upstairs room up for Stiles to sleep in, changing the sheets that still smelled like both Isaac and Cora before walking him down to grab his pillow and toiletries. After he took a long shower, he motioned for Derek to follow him upstairs where he promptly collapsed into the bed with a hum.

“Even your spare bed is soft. What kind of money did you drop on these things?”

Derek chose not to answer that, instead setting himself on the foot of the bed and listening to Stiles talk himself to sleep before turning the lights off and heading downstairs to do the same.

Derek woke sometime late that night, when the loft was blanketed in a harsh darkness that was only diffused by the dim glow coming from the bathroom. He sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he listened in for Stiles and caught the sound of his breathing, rabbit fast and almost panicked.

It was enough to pull him from the bed and across the floor to knock lightly at the door before he pushed it open. He blinked against the light for a few sluggish moments before looking up to where Stiles was leaned over the sink, bowed in close to the dingy mirror staring at his reflection with a distant, owlish expression pulling at his face.

“Stiles?”

He called, stepping up behind him. The stillness was unsettling in a way he hadn’t seen in him since he was possessed, but Stiles tried giving a weak smile, no matter how flat if fell.

“I feel like I lost my identity with it, you know?”

He said after a while of just standing there, tracing the shape of his jaw or brows in the mirror’s reflection; looking at himself with a mournful kind of scent you would expect to smell on someone reminiscing about a lost loved one.

“I look in the mirror and try to see myself, but I can’t. I look at my face and just think of it.”

Derek reached out hesitantly, laying a hand on Stiles’ shoulder and watching how his eyes flicked up to meet his in the mirror. There wasn’t exactly anything he knew to say that would help Stiles, so he just chose not to say anything at all.

He led him out of the bathroom and to the couch, sitting him down and easing into the spot just to his side where Stiles instantly dropped against him, fingers curling into Derek’s shirt in a vice grip.

It was quiet for long enough that Derek almost thought Stiles had drifted off to sleep, but then he was turning to look at Derek, murmuring a quiet, “Thank you.” Before rubbing his face against Derek’s shoulder with a yawn, vice grip slipping down to Derek’s hand instead.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi at my [tumblr](http://www.larkspurleaf.tumblr.com)


End file.
